News | Election
downsmail.co.uk LibDems retainMBCcontrol
THE LiberalDemocrats have retained control ofMaidstone Borough Council, after they rekin- dled a dealwith independents and Labour.
Independent Maidstone mem-
berGordonNewton, pictured, de- cided to side with the Lib Dems whichwas enough to seeCllrMar- tin Cox re-elected as leader on May 18. He was returned by a narrow
margin of 28 to 26. There were few shocks on May
2, and the Tory vote held up well in the face of problems at West- minster over Brexit. But they failed to retain Fant,
whichwent toLabour, anddidnot unseat Cllr Newton
in
Downswood&Otham. In North ward, where the Lib
Dem candidate failed to submit nomination papers on time, the fight turned out to be a three-way tussle between Labour, Conserva- tives and Greens. The strong third place result for the Green Party probably cost Labour the seat, which the Tories took with a 90 vote majority. Labour now has all three Fant seats. John Perry, Tory group leader
said: “All things considered, this was a tidy enough result for us - it
Results in your area
Allington – Cynthia Robertson Lib Dem
Bearsted – Val Springett Con Boxley – Ann Brindle Con
Coxheath & Hunton – Richard Webb Lib Dem
Detling & Thurnham - Nick De Wiggondene-Sheppard Con
Downswood & Otham– Gordon Newton IndMaidstone East - David Naghi Lib Dem Fant –Margaret Rose Lab
Harrietsham & Lenham – Tom Sams Ind
High Street –Dinesh Khadka Lib Dem Leeds – Gill Fort Con Loose – Susan Grigg Lib Dem
Marden & Yalding – Annabelle Blackmore Con North – Robert Eves Con Shepway N –Marion Ring Con South – Brian Clark Lib Dem Staplehurst - Louise Brice Con
S Valence & Langley- Wendy Young Con TURNOUT: 32%
10
could have been catastrophic. Peo- ple turned out because they care about local issues and their com- munities. “We’re grateful that so many
stuck with us. But this wasn’t going to be our election. It is galling to be the biggest party and be prevented fromforming an ad- ministration. “Next year will be a different
matter.” Conservative Gary Cooke failed
to takeDownswood&Otham, de- spite having worked the patch for months before polling day. Cllr Newton (Independent
Maidstone) polled 434 to the To- ries’ 182. After victory, Cllr Newton said
his success was in part due to his dogBonnie, a rescuemongrel,who
Greens look to future
THE Green Party said its 12% vote share showed a surge in support for an alternative voice in local politics. The Greens came third in
North ward – where the Lib Dems failed to stand a candi- date because of a paperwork error – but only narrowly be- hind Labour. The seatwaswon by Conservative Robert Eves. Green candidate Steve Cheeseman said: “It was heart-
breaking to narrowly miss out in North ward, but I’m really pleased to have increased our vote share somassively. “This clearly shows that there
is a desire formore Green poli- cies and a different style of pol- itics.
I will continue to
campaign in the area, with a viewtowinning next time.” Stuart Jeffery, secretary of
Maidstone Greens, said: “This was an outstanding election.”
Coalition claim‘nonsense’
CLAIMS the Conservatives have been in a “coalition” with the Lib- eralDemocrats onMBC have been described as “total nonsense”. Lib Dem councillor Dan Daley
suggested that because the Tories acceptedcommittee chairmanships in the last period of administration from2018-19, therewas analliance. Cllr Daley, who represents
Allington, claimed: “For a number of years there has been no overall control (of MBC) but by virtue of the Conservatives chairing com-
Maidstone Weald June 2019
mittees, we have got a coalition in a sense. It is a coalition.” Tory opposition group leader
John Perry said: “It is a LiberalDe- mocrat-ledauthority - they are run- ning the show. Dan can’t wriggle out of it that way.We are not in a coalition.Our aimis towinenough seats to have an overallmajority.” Fellow Tory member Jonathan
Purle said: “It is total nonsense. Take a look around you -what you see is down to the Lib Dems. We are not in charge - they are.”
accompanies himon litter-picking walks. He joked: “I sometimes think thatpeople knowBonnie bet- ter thanme. I ampleasedwith the result.” The pair are pictured. Cllr Newton’s re-election also
means that Independent Maid- stone has two seats, allowing it to be classedas a “group” at the town hall. County Cllr Cooke said after-
wards: “I genuinely thought that it wouldbe closer, although I always hada sneaking feeling thatGordon was going towin.” Fantwas taken by Labour, as ex-
pected. The sitting Conservative councillor Matt Boughton stood down aftermoving out of the area. Winner Margaret Rose said: “There arenowthreeLabour coun- cillors in Fant. I look forward to serving local people and will do my very best.” Aspokesman for the LiberalDe-
mocrats said: “Itwas goodour vote heldupandtheTorieswouldhave expected to have done better, de- spite uncertain times.”
The make up of the council afterMay 2 is:
CONSERVATIVES
LIBERALDEMOCRATS LABOUR
INDEPENDENT INDEPENDENTM’STONE
25 20 4 4 2
Tories fail to
take target IN THE target seat Coxheath & Hunton, Liberal Democrat RichardWebb faced a tough chal- lenge fromTory SimonWebb, but won the seat with a handsome 470majority. He said: “We had to work hard
and thankfully it paid off.” SimonWebb said: “Iwas a long,
longway off – itwas a distance.” Next year, fellow Lib Dem
Emily Fermor will be forced to defend her majority of a single vote in 2016, but it is unclear whether Mr Webb will contest it again for the Tories. He said: “I haven’t quite de-
cided whether to go for selection again or not.”
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